DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived Cleggeron era

Disappointing: No results found for "miliband slams balls".

Check again tomorrow!

Hague should hire Sean Penn straight back if he's the one who wrote this statement.

No mention of Guido's FOI request in the statement? I presume that now becomes null and void?

Having said that I am quite enjoying the slagging of off the aforementioned Guido by his up till now loyal fans - "you've gone too far this time" etc.

my impression is that Guido would not be a pleasant companion in real life

I was sure I called Hague's CONTROVERSIAL MODERATOR EDIT on this thread months ago but apparently not. It's allegedly been an open secret in Tory circles and probably in other parties for years.

If you were trying to cover up your homosexual affair, while travelling around the country and checking into hotels with your gay partner, wouldn't it be a bit stupid to book into the same hotel room? If you were trying to avoid arousing suspicion you'd book two separate single rooms.

indeed
the only interesting part of this is, who within the tories is trying to do this? who is feeding that anal wart guido fawkes?

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/9/2/1283456235291/Andy-Coulson-006.jpg

god, coulson, huh. WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?

Even if Hague was gay, it's not a resigning issue, is it? And the completely plausible denial that these two men were involved in a relationship throws out any suspicion there was any impropriety in Myers' position as a SpAd. Not to mention that's he's resigned, anyway. Plus it plants a little doubt in everyone's mind the next time a scandal comes up. There's something a little fishy about this, like someone's been trying to keep Coulson off the front pages.

And, as if by magic...

According to Conservative officials, Andy Coulson, the party's director of communications, played a key role in the decision to release the statement on a day when attention was focused on the publication of Tony Blair's autobiography.

Even if Hague was gay, it's not a resigning issue, is it?

interesting qn, kind of a test case for the new tory party. twenty years ago i think it would have been? not 'for being gay' in itself of course. there are all sorts of sanctimonious wankers saying it's 'an improper use of funds' to hire this guy etc, which is how they'd knife him.

In totally unrelated news NOTW have complained to the NYTimes like the big crybabies they are.
http://documents.nytimes.com/response-from-news-of-the-world

I would ask you to consider, for example, what your reaction would be were Jayson Blair to make allegations now to a rival newspaper group about editorial practices and the culture at the New York Times, given that he left the paper approximately five years ago and a new editorial and executive team has been installed

Take that NYT.

that's been edited for clarity? xp

(His) termination was later challenged at an employment tribunal in an acrimonious case which we vigorously defended, but which Mr. Driscoll won.

If you were trying to cover up your homosexual affair, while travelling around the country and checking into hotels with your gay partner, wouldn't it be a bit stupid to book into the same hotel room? If you were trying to avoid arousing suspicion you'd book two separate single rooms.

Surely Hague would be aware of past politicians/celebs that booked double (or twin) rooms and got the same crap from journos though?

Guardian still going after Coulson this morning, but is anyone else?

can i just say this is one of my favorite thread titles ever

ty brah

kind of makes up for its misplaced optimism

Dem gwan Con Dis Nation, an' t'ing

It's still only been five months! xp

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/03/article-1308561-0B03791F000005DC-218_468x608_popup.jpg

Convenient that

Hmm, Nick Clegg's name not boldened!

At least it's not lower case. Suspect the word Liberal to be in inverted commas though.

xp - yeah I thought that - haven't these people got, like, little document holders from Smythsons or something?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01707/ChristopherMyers_1707569c.jpg

Dude certainly has brooding filmstar good looks: Myers isn't bad either

BBC finally giving some space to the NYT allegations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11175076

it was a big item on the today programme too

Yeah, that article is a distillation of that mostly.

I see the Telegraph is still banging on about Hague. I thought they liked him? I'm confused by the New Politics.

I'm confused by William Hague's sleeping arrangements

Don't think any part of the Hague story is a resigning issue, even if his statement was a lie. Although if he did turn out to be gay or bi it would be deeply amusing given the extent to which he campaigned against abolishing Section 28 while leading the Tories.

The craziest thing to me about the phone hacking story is the alleged complicity between Scotland Yard and News of the World reporters??

This isn't crazy: police inform members of the press about all sorts of things on the sly - I just get fed up when it's over a subject other than 'police corruption'.

the second craziest is that cameron hired this guy. i suppose it's kind of po-faced to use phrases like 'serious lapse of judgment' but... that was a very serious lapse of judgment! any idiot could see this blowing up eventually.

I was sure I called Hague's CONTROVERSIAL MODERATOR EDIT on this thread months ago but apparently not. It's allegedly been an open secret in Tory circles and probably in other parties for years.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 2 September 2010 20:52 (Yesterday)

wouldn't this have been more widely circulated given that he was leader of the opposition for several years?

Whenever I see William Hague talk I think of the priest on Father Ted who has "the most boring voice in the world".

Father Ted: Of the lot of us, who's got the most boring voice?
Fitzgerald: (extremely dull voice) That'd be me, Ted...
Father Ted: Right, now, listen to me--
Fitzgerald: I have an awful dreary monotonous voice, God help me...

if they knew/suspected all along then why wasn't it being insinuated by the coulsons of whichever tory factions were trying to unsettle hague at the time?

they had enough to do so at the time anyway?

tbh, I don't buy the "he's gay" thing at all.

Don't ask me why, I dunno.

hague lasted for 4 yrs iirc? and he was obviously terrible

I assume Cameron hired Coulson because the value of his Murdoch links outweighed the potential damage of this story blowing up, which it predictably has.

Murdoch to Coulson: "You resign, point of principle, it wasn't you but you bear responsibilty, right? I'll put in a word with CONTROV MOD ED and he'll see you right"

Just ran into a posse of gay friends on the main drag near my flat - while we were sitting there chatting, Rupert Everett emerged from his flat in various outfits over a 30-minute period, trying to be noticed - and they call BS on Hague and the not-boyfriend.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eDCpmQFGYxQ/SDFyjIAx3uI/AAAAAAAAAC4/kG3vZMdzesE/s200/200px-ErnieBertStorm.jpg

BS on they nobbed or BS on they didn't?

They liked my joke about 'honey, what would you like from Firetrap?' and reckoned WH is Mildred and his friend is George, knaaamsayin'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11094468

Our responsible media will presumably report that immigration is down, rather than presenting the data in a way that will exacerbate racial tensions.